The Wolf of Whyte Street
by Critanium
Summary: <html><head></head>The East Wind blows, calling Holo and Lawrence out to the continent of Auestran, where the sparks of a technological revolution are occuring. The church, still reeling from it's loss, has pulled back to the distant continent and became the head of all affairs there. Opportunities abound in this new world, at least for those who are cunning and ruthless.</html>


Moonlight streamed through an open window, the silvery rays reflecting off of the warm wooden floor. The small room was awash in shades of steely blue, the only element providing contrast was a small candle that smoked on the table. The small wooden chairs, more akin to stools then then their armchair bretheren, were occupied by a pair of traders.

One of them flipped through a sheaf of papers he had laid out infront of him, the nocturne lighting not falsely colouring his hair and eyes. His fingers idle touched another sheet he had laid out to the side, the inscriptions on it were both familiar and un-familiar. His hand traced the strange letters, his tongue idly miming his thoughts.

However, his companion's hand lay elsewhere, in a resting grip around a tall mug. She brought the flask up to her mouth, enjoying the slightly acrid feel on her lips. She brought it down again, making sure she had tasted every drop that she missed. The man eyed her curiously, he liked the drink as much as anyone, but it was pretty late for anything strong. Never the less, his hand continued its journey down the slightly frayed pamphlet.

The short cooing of an owl interrupted the silence of the room, the candle flame shifting almost imperceptibly along with a slight breeze that made its way into the room. Only one of them noticed this change.

The man, noticing that the girl across from him was reaching for her mug again, decided to break up her routine.

"G'vedst hoy." He sounded, his tongue slightly confused as it acted out unknown vowels and cosonants.

The girl across from him was slightly surprised at the utterance, her ears perked in response. She slowly set down her mug, flashing a sly grin at the man across from her, as if she knew the game he was playing. She scoured her thoughts, attempting to remember the response. Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember her conjugations.

"J'va ti?" He said, her voice quivering slightly with uncertainty. The man raised a solitary eyebrow at the response, his other features remaining stalwart.

"J'va _a_ ti." She said once more, at the very least she was slightly convinced that she was right. Lawrence slowly nodded his head, affirming her confidence. She sighed, slumping down a little. "This whole 'differing languages' you humans have confuses me."

The man grunted in jest, leaning back in his chair slightly. "I thought you were 'The Wise Wolf', yet you can't learn another language?"

She looked slightly offended at the query, before her expression subdued somewhat. She carelessly flicked an apple core that lay on it's side, making it roll down the table. "I am wise…" She grumbled, obviously frustrated with the strain she's been under for the past week.

"Hey, this entire thing was your idea. If you're as stubborn as I think you are, you're not going to give up anytime soon." He grinned, as his words seemed to cheer up the girl across from him. She sat up, her crimson eyes reflecting the candle set in between the two of them. "Still, you're doing wonderfully. I'm almost having a hard time staying ahead of you."

The girl chuckled, her cheeks noticeably reddening, her reaction slightly muted by her quiet surroundings. "My my, aren't we confident tonight?"

"Is that you or the alcohol talking?" The man continued his gaze down onto the yellowed papers, his finger stopping on every phrase.

The girl pondered this for a moment, before reaching back to her mug and attempting to judge how much was left. She frowned slightly before setting it back down. "Keep that up and we'll see where it takes you, Lawrence." He couldn't exactly describe just how she pronounced his name.

The man named Lawrence swallowed, his dry mouth offering no relief. His cheeks began to redden, damn them. Still, he kept his act up by rolling his eyes and flipping the paper in his hands. "Definitely the alcohol…"

The girl muttered something underneath her breath before pushing the empty mug towards the end of the table, falling in place along with 3 others. Lawrence chuckled at her reaction to the sight, she even seemed to wobble slightly, almost as if her body suddenly realized how much she had imbibed.

Lawrence's hand stopped its journey, his head angled upward to observe the girl. His face was a mask of concern. "Are you going to be alright?" He questioned, trying to keep eye-contact with her tipsy form.

She made an attempt to look haughty, however much she could manage in her pitiful state. "I am H-Holo the Wise Wolf, I do not get drunk after only three drinks of this… watered down swill." She tried to brush off his concerns with a simple, lopsided hand-wave. "No matter how t-tasty they smell…."

"Don't tell me you got into the hard cider again…" Lawrence's mouth scrunched as he filed the paper in his hands along with the rest, the crinkling sound once again ending the quiet vigil in the room. Holo laid her head down on the table, her arms swaying uselessly below it.

Lawrence looked down once more at the papers he was holding, a short scan revealed that he had already learned all that he needed from the frayed edges. He huffed out of his nose, and filed the phamplets back into a stack. His chair creaked in protest as he stood up, practically towering over his companion at the other end of the table.

"…How many opiates did the bartender put in these?" Her hand brushed the quartet of empty mugs, almost knocking one of them over.

He was glad that Holo couldn't see the grin plastered on his face. "Come on now, don't blame the innkeeper. You and I both know about your addictive personality." He walked around the table, now on the side of the drunken Pagan goddess.

"Hitting on me in my drunken state? Lawrence, you fiend." Holo's lopsided grin pierced into his own. Lawrence rolled his eyes once more, if only to hide the constant blushing his face was giving away. He moved around to her back.

"You are such a sleepy drunk. Let's get you to bed." He pulled her away from the table, trying to get her up on her own, wobbly, two feet. She groaned in protest at the action, maintaining her limp composure. Holding Holo's arms, he practically puppeteered her over to the bed, letting her collapse by herself onto the bed. She swiftly tucked her legs upward, letting the sheets fall over her. Soon enough, she was isolated in her own fabric cocoon.

Lawrence turned around, taking off his jacket and setting it on the bed. Somewhere behind him Holo muttered something about '10 opiates', he couldn't make it out clearly through her drunken slurring. He let himself stretch his back before sitting down on the bed, staring at the practically comatose girl on the other side.

It was only then that he realized something he had forgot to mention to her, and now seemed like the best time, if only for the express purpose of gaining a petty victory over her.

"Holo." No answer

"Holo…" A short grumble emerged from her cocoon.

"Holo!" He muted his voice somewhat, but his exclamation made her jolt slightly. She opened her eyes, the crimson pools reflecting death itself. Her brows were furrowed in what could only be described as intense fury.

He continued, unabated by her stares. "You need a surname for the passport. I was going to ask you if you had one, or thought of one."

Her façade faltered for a bit, before she flipped over, burying herself in her fortress once more. She mumbled again, and he strained his ears trying to make it out.

"I am…. Holo di wise wulf…" She said as she pushed her head into her pillow, unconscious to the world. He wasn't exactly sure at all if that was an answer to his question.

_Hmm. 'di wise wolf'…_

He laid back on the bed, covering himself in his own fabric garrison. The cool sheets were heaven on his exhausted frame.

He smirked as he came up with a wonderful idea. It was a grand name, she'd probably thank him for coming up with it… next morning. He closed his eyes, done with the trials and tribulations of the day, ready to go forth into the next one.

_Holo DiWisewolf._


End file.
